title: Feasibility and efficacy of argon plasma coagulation for early esophageal squamous cell neoplasia.
abstract: We present 19 cases in which argon plasma coagulation (APC) was used as curative initial treatment for 5 low-grade esophageal squamous intraepithelial neoplasias (ESINs), 12 high-grade ESINs, and 2 early esophageal squamous cell carcinomas (ESCCs). Complete response was defined as the absence of tumor from any biopsy taken from the ablated lesion. At follow-up endoscopy 2 - 4 months after APC, 94.7 % of patients had achieved complete response in a single treatment session. Only one patient with high-grade ESIN showed local recurrence. This patient underwent additional APC and showed complete response at 12 months after initial APC. At the 12-month follow-up endoscopy, again 94.7 % had a complete response. The exception was one patient with local recurrence, who underwent additional APC. After the 12-month follow-up endoscopy, no patient showed local recurrence during a median follow-up of 22 months. No stricture requiring endoscopic dilation occurred after the procedure. This study suggests that APC is a feasible and effective treatment modality for ESIN and early ESCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: B-H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Min
authors.forename: E R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: P-L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Rhee
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Rhee
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D057908:Argon Plasma Coagulation / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D004945:Esophagoscopy; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome